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March 10, 2004 – Here is the text
of a letter sent by the Republican National Committee to
approximately 250 TV stations to try and bully them into not running
ads from groups that are opposed to President Bush’s re-election –
yes, showing once again the RNC does not believe in American values
like free speech but instead wants a Soviet Union-like nation where
only one side has a voice and the other gets silenced by the
government.
Well, this is not the Soviet Union, and
we – and you – are not going to stand for this. Even more, we are
not just going to whine and complain (as the Democrats love to do)
but to go on offense, using a bit of jujitsu to turn this RNC attack
against themselves.
Here is the letter the RNC has been
sending around, as reported by
US Newswire:
March 5, 2004
Attention: Station Manager
To Whom It May Concern:
This is to inform you that the Moveon.org Voter Fund is
currently airing or may be about to air advertisements on your
station that violate federal election laws. Moveon.org Voter
Fund is a non-federal political organization, a so-called
"Section 527" organization. Such organizations are restricted in
spending their money to influence federal elections, but the
advertisement(s) they seek to air is to help defeat President
Bush's re-election.
As a "soft money" Section 527
organization, Moveon.org Voter Fund's actions are in violation
of the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Bipartisan Campaign
Finance Reform Act (collectively "the Act") and guidance issued
by the Federal Election Commission. Moveon.org could have aired
these ads through its federally registered separate segregated
fund, but instead chose to use illegal "soft money" in excess of
the limits of federal law.
The First Amendment of our
Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and discussion of
ideas. However, Congress has enacted laws, which were recently
affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, that govern how
campaign speech can be funded and conducted. Between now and
November, our nation will engage in a debate that pits President
Bush's strong and steady leadership against others who seek to
attack the President and engage in a vicious, negative campaign.
We fully anticipate these attacks, and I write not because of
the misleading allegations contained in the advertisement, which
will be answered in due time, but because running this
advertisement breaks the law.
As a broadcaster licensed by the
Federal Communications Commission, you have a responsibility to
the viewing public and to your licensing agency to refrain from
complicity in any illegal activity, specifically in this case,
violations of our nation's Federal Election Laws. Since this is
a third party political advertisement and not a candidate
sponsored message, your station is under no obligation to
broadcast this advertisement.
Moveon.org Voter Fund is Funding Its
Federal Election Advertisements with Non-Federal Dollars, which
is Illegal.
The Moveon.org Voter Fund's web site
states that it "primarily runs ads" in Presidential
'battleground' states in opposition to a federal candidate -
President George W. Bush. The phrase "battleground states" is a
direct reference used in numerous media reports and in political
strategy planning to refer to states that are viewed as key to
the outcome of the 2004 Presidential election. According to
press reports, Moveon.org's purpose and motivation behind airing
these advertisements is to counter the Bush campaign's
advertising and "ensure that there is a Democratic presence on
the TV airwaves in key states as Bush begins to make his case
for re-election."
Under the Act, any entity that
spends or raises more than $1,000 in a calendar year "for the
purpose of influencing any election for federal office" must
register as a federal political committee with the Commission.
This is not self-selecting. Moveon.org Voter Fund's television
buy attacking or opposing a clearly identified candidate for
federal office requires it to register and abide by the limits
and source requirements of the Act.
The Federal Election Commission
affirmed two weeks ago that any communication which "promotes,
supports, attacks or opposes" a federal candidate falls under
the "hard dollar" rules of the Act. AO 2003-27. The Supreme
Court in McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S., 124 S.Ct. 619 at 675 n. 64,
set the standard for determining whether communications that
refer to a clearly identified federal candidate are for the
purpose of influencing a federal election. The Federal Election
Commission confirmed this by stating, "communications that
promote, support, attack or oppose a clearly identified Federal
candidate" have a "dramatic effect" on federal elections. AO
2003-37, at 3. Further, the Federal Election Commission said
that donations in excess of the Act's limits and prohibitions
could not be used to fund this type of communication. AO
2003-37, at 9-10.
Even though the most recent
Moveon.org Voter Fund reports filed with the Federal Election
Commission indicate receipt of donations of $5,000 or less,
these are not enough to cover the costs of Moveon.org's ads.
This means that they are paying for ads that "promote, support,
attack or oppose" a federal candidate with soft money that
violates the prohibitions and limitations of the Act. The
Moveon.org Voter Fund has filed "electioneering communication"
reports with the Commission indicating that it has received
donations from individuals well in excess of the $5,000 maximum
federal limit provided for in the Act. For example, the
Moveon.org Voter Fund previously reported nearly $1.5 million in
donations from George Soros and a $971,426.78 donation from
"Steven Bing," along with many other similar donations that
violate the $5,000 limit provided by federal law. In contrast,
both political parties and their respective presidential
campaigns pay for all of their advertisements with funds subject
to the limits and prohibitions established by the Act.
The last two years have seen a long
process of campaign finance reform. Elected officials from both
parties have affirmatively declared that use of non-federal
funds in a federal election is illegal. Senator John Kerry
(D-Massachusetts) has said that "McCain-Feingold's goal and
(its) objective, which I support, is to eliminate altogether the
capacity of soft money to play the role that it does in our
politics." Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), one of the primary
authors of the new campaign finance law has said, "Some
groupshave recently been set up for the sole purpose of raising
or spending tens of millions of dollars in soft money to
influence the 2004 Presidential and congressional elections.
This blatant end run around the campaign finance laws should not
be tolerated." Moveon.org Voter fund is one of these groups
evading the new campaign finance law.
Because the advertisement(s) clearly
attacks or opposes President Bush, an identified candidate for
federal office, and is being broadcast in states commonly
considered crucial to the outcome of this Fall's Presidential
election, the Moveon.org Voter Fund cannot use soft money for
this advertising and must register with the Federal Election
Commission.
As you can plainly see from the
information provided above, the Moveon.org Voter Fund is
illegally funding the advertisements currently airing or about
to be aired on your station. Now that you have been apprised of
the law to prevent further violations of federal law, we urge
you to remove these advertisements from your station's broadcast
rotation.
Sincerely,
Jill Holtzman Vogel
Chief Counsel
Now, when you read this, the first thing
that becomes obvious is that the Republican media machine – talk
radio in particular – appears to directly violates the statutes
mentioned above. Radio program after radio program – indeed, entire
radio station after radio station – exist just to promote the
Republican Party’s agenda and candidates, President Bush in
particular, but also Senators and Congressman, as well as to oppose
Democrats.
According to the above RNC letter, “…any
entity that spends or raises more than $1,000 in a calendar year
“for the purpose of influencing election for federal office” must
register as a federal political action committee with the (Federal
Elections) Commission.”
Well, my friends (as Rush Limbaugh might
say,) that is exactly what Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael
Savage – indeed, hundreds upon hundreds of talk show hosts
nationwide directly do, raising millions of dollars directly from
corporations via advertising revenue to sponsor it, being financed,
again against federal regulations, by the companies that own them
which, under federal law, are not allowed to engage or contribute
such sums of money to candidates or political activities.
There is a clear misstatement in the
above letter. It claims, “According to press reports, Moveon.org’s
purpose and motivation behind airing these advertisements is to
counter the Bush campaign's advertising and "ensure that there is a
Democratic presence on the TV airwaves in key states as Bush begins
to make his case for re-election."
That is inaccurate. It is to counter
the right-wing domination of the media, including talk radio, in
addition to the Bush campaign’s advertising. The very reason
Moveon.org was founded to begin with was exactly because the
right-wing talk radio/media machine was trying to take out President
Clinton with a constant hateful smear campaign. In other words,
Moveon.org entirely exists to counter the very possibly illegal arms
of the Republican National Committee that appear to skirt the very
letter of campaign finance law by pretending to be news or
programming while, clearly, they are nothing but 527 type political
action committees setup in a fashion that appears to be in violation
of the law.
As the letter stated, “The Federal
Election Commission affirmed two weeks ago that any communication
which "promotes, supports, attacks or opposes" a federal candidate
falls under the "hard dollar" rules of the Act. AO 2003-27.”
Notice it does not say “any
advertisement” but, instead, “any communication.” Radio programming
is clearly a form of “communication,” and these AM stations and
“programs” clearly exist to promote, support, attack or oppose
federal candidates.
The letter then states, “The Supreme
Court in McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S., 124 S.Ct. 619 at 675 n. 64, set
the standard for determining whether communications that refer to a
clearly identified federal candidate are for the purpose of
influencing a federal election. The Federal Election Commission
confirmed this by stating, "communications that promote, support,
attack or oppose a clearly identified Federal candidate" have a
"dramatic effect" on federal elections. AO 2003-37, at 3.”
Again, exactly what talk radio does.
They “clearly” identify a “Federal candidate” and “promote” the
Republican ones, “support” the Republican ones, and “attack” and
“oppose” Democratic ones.
As the letter from the RNC further
states, “Further, the Federal Election Commission said that
donations in excess of the Act's limits and prohibitions could not
be used to fund this type of communication. AO 2003-37, at 9-10.”
Well, ClearChannel Communications,
Disney, and others who own and operate these programs clearly fund
them with more money than the Act permits. In addition, the people
who advertise also provide direct support for these activities “in
excess of the Act’s limits and prohibitions.”
As the letter quotes one of our favorite
Senators, John McCain (R-AZ), as saying, “This run around the
campaign finance laws should not be tolerated.” We agree.
Just for the sake of levity, remember
that President Bush fought tooth and nail against John McCain and
the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation they now seek to
use as a hammer to further wipe out basic American values, such as
open discourse and free and fair elections.
We at The Moderate Independent agree
that campaign finance laws are important and should be followed, and
that setups which exist to get around the laws are Soviet-like scum. We agree that, as
the letter states, “The First Amendment of our Constitution
guarantees freedom of speech and discussion of ideas. However,
Congress has enacted laws, which were recently affirmed by the
United States Supreme Court, that govern how campaign speech can be
funded and conducted.”
It seems clear that several talk radio
programs, as well as other communications out there, exist in
violation of FEC regulations. And, as Moderate Independents, we are
not content to sit around and let this setup continue.
So, now we ask you to join with us as we
stir the milkshake and prepare for a counteroffensive. We will
begin by waking up potential allies, as when entering such a large
fight, it is always best to have as many friends with you as
possible.
So, dear M/I’ers, first we need to get
Moveon.org and the Democratic National Committee to wake up to the
reality we have delineated above. Getting them to consider the
cause is the best first step we can take.
But don’t worry, whether they come on
board or not, we will take this fight on further.
For now, first go to:
Moveon.org
and tell them to come read this story and join with The Moderate
Independent in going on the offensive in the name of fairness,
Democracy, and free speech.
Then either call the or e-mail the
Democratic National Committee (or both) and tell them the same
thing. You can
e-mail
them or call them at: 202-863-8000.
And it would not hurt to wake up the
Kerry campaign as well, as it will be the biggest victim of this
setup. So write them at info@johnkerry.com and tell them to get
their troops involved in this battle as well.
We will also be looking at potential
state violations. For example, a radio show in California
specifically devoted a week before the recent primaries directly
raising money on-air for a Republican group, and directly stated “we
have a lot of work to do” in directly working to pass two
propositions that were on the ballot. We have to look more closely
at California campaign finance law to be sure if this is a direct
violation – but it seems clear all around this country the spirit of
campaign finance laws are likely being violated by the Republican
attack machine. And it seems even more likely that we Moderate
Independents are going to do something about it. |
